The temperatures in Igarka were 52C below zero (Screenshot from youtube.com) / YouTube

Freezing temperatures didn’t stop intrepid passengers from “helping out” a Russian plane that couldn’t move, because its wheels were frozen to the ground. The "selfie" won the day in a remote Siberian town beyond the Arctic Circle.

74 passengers, who were on board, offered the seven-member crew
and technical staff to help move the frozen Tupolev Tu-134 plane
to the takeoff runway on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the UTair
company told TASS.

“The passengers disembarked to lighten the weight, and then
they volunteered to move it,” she said.

The temperatures in Igarka, in the Krasnoyarsk region, hit a low
of about -52C. Locals, living some 163 km north of the Arctic
Circle, are quite used to cold weather, but machines turn out to
be more delicate.

Having spent over 24 hours on the tarmac, the airplane’s wheels
simply froze to the ground. However, the brake system wasn’t
harmed. According to the company, the ice-covered ground was the
reason the plane couldn’t be moved. The incident is currently
under investigation, and will involve airport staff, the airline,
crew and passengers.

The passengers of the charter flight were rotation workers,
heading to Krasnoyarsk. They didn’t regard their activity as
anything outstanding. There just was no other way for the plane
to take off, they said.

“Planted a tree, built a house, pushed a plane,” goes a
new joke, referring to the three vital actions of a real Russian
man, which also includes having a son, according to a local TV.

Nonetheless, the director of the local airport said that “The
passengers – rotation workers – must have decided to make some
sort of a ‘selfie’. The joke proved right and became a good one
in the internet.”

He was doubtful whether people could actually move a 70-ton
aircraft. This was backed by the prosecutor’s words, who added
that it would be hard to reach its two-meter-high wings, and if
you did manage, the cover and flaps could get damaged.

The plane successfully made it to Krasnoyarsk, albeit it with a
little delay.